Ind-NZ 3rd ODI: Diwali comes early for Punjab’s cricket fans

This Sunday, cricket fans in the region will queue up at IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium as India takes on New Zealand in the third One Day International (ODI) of the five-match series.

This Sunday, cricket fans in the region will queue up at IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium as India takes on New Zealand in the third One Day International (ODI) of the five-match series.

The hysteria isn’t just among the tricity fans as people from different cities of Punjab and Haryana have been flocking the PCA Stadium ticket outlets since the sale started. PCA has also tied-up with ICICI Bank branches for the ticket sales.

Of the total capacity of the stadium of 27,500 seats, around 22,000 are being sold to the public and officials claim very few are left. To avoid inconvenience, seats and tickets have been numbered and 50 ushers have been hired to guide people to seats.

“In the past, spectators have complained that they could not find seats even if they had tickets. We hope that now there will be no problem,” said PCA secretary GS Walia.

If PCA officials are to be believed, the tickets of VIP Block (Rs 1,000) North Pavilion (Rs 750), Chair Block (Rs 300) and Chair Block for students (Rs 200) for the match are almost sold out.

“We expect a full house on Sunday. With two days left, the tickets of North Pavilion (Rs 2,000), Pavilion Terrace (Rs 3,000) and AC Lounge (Rs 4,000) will be in huge demand. We are half-way through these tickets.”

Local connect: Will Mandeep Singh make his debut?

A Virat Kohli fan, Harneet Singh, a student from Jalandhar, bought tickets for himself and his friend. “After Rahul Sharma and Harbhajan Singh, no other Jalandhar cricketer has played for India. Although Mandeep Paaji played for India in the T20 series against Zimbabwe, we want him to establish himself in the ODIs. I wish Dhoni chooses Mohali for his ODI debut. We will be cheering him on,” he said.